^ ortifnltnral The Government and Silk . The Department of Agrioulture appears to be determined to give the cultivation of ¦ ilk in this oountry a fair ohanoe . There are two notioes sent ont by the department upon this subjeot . Upon the whole we are glad that the matter is to receive attention from thiB quarter , for the subjeot is attracting considerable attention , and if silk culture is not praotioal in the United States , there ie danger of many people wasting a good deal of time . We have never believed that the conditions are favorable in this oountry to the development of the business as a standard industry . Others differ with us , and BO we wonld like to see the thing tested . There wiU many , however , that wlU be utterly disgusted with the interest in Bilk that the Department is showing . It will be said by these people that the Department is always meddling with the fanoiful . We shall be told that it was tea oulture under one administration , sorghum oulture nnder ano...

J ( isccHanc 0 tt ^ Heath &amp;amp; MiUlgan Manufacturing Co . Chicago has taken a front rank in paints , the business having inoreased during the last ten years upwards of 400 per oent and the oity has secured the Western trade formerly controlled by New York and PhUadelphia , furnishing goods cheaper and more promptly . Foremost in aohleving these results has been the Heath &amp;amp; MiUigan Manufacturing Co . The premises are situated at 170 , 172 and 174 Bandolph street . The building , whioh measures 60 x 180 feet , is a substantial briok Btruoture , with ont stone faoings and comprises a basement and five floors- It was ereoted under the personal supervision of Mr . Heath , from plans prepared acoording to suggestions furnished by him and is not surpassed by any manufacturing establishment in this line in the oountry , for strength , location andntUity . The basement , whioh is very dry and airy , is uBed for storage purposes . On the first floor are the offices , and ...

| jjor .. ml . uraL HOW to CroBB Fertilize Fruits . We compile the foUowing from the American Garden . It is a subjeot of muoh importance . It is often remarked that we have too many varieties . So we have , but surely , we have not too many good varieties . Our fruits that possess the qualities of the Baldwin App le and Bartlett Pear are far too few . Until we have so many suoh varieties that aU the delicious fruits of our land are yielded in Buoh abundanoe that even the thrifty laboring men shaU know no lack , we have not enongh . Cross-fertilization of varieties offers the shortest and surest means of improvement . The prinolples that apply in Btook breeding apply as well to plants . By crossing two varieties , eaoh of whioh has one or more valuable quaUties highly developed , we may hope to obtain a variety combining the desirable characters of both . It is an easy matter to seleot varieties with one or two exceUent qualities . For example , the Oresoent strawberry possesses gre...

Real Estate . ¦ FARMS FOR SALE . No . 22 * . —172 aore farm ; good house and bam : fine grove ; 2 good weUs : farm all fenced and divided in fields ; all good land . A No . 1 stock farm , only one mile to railroad town . Good trading point . Prioe ( 25 per acre . No . 223 . —160 acre form , 6 % miles from this oltv ; has new house , built last Summer at oost of 11 , 600 ; outbuildings are fair ; good grove , well and small brook of living water ; farm is fenced and in fields . An excellent stock farm . Prioe 127 . 80 per acre . Easy terms . No . 228 . -80 acre farm , 2 K miles ot railroad town ; good buildings ; TO acres good plow land . Price 11 , 81 M . No , 230 . —820 acre farm , 7 miles to railroad town : has new and eommodious farm house ; out-buildings , 60 acres In posture , balance in cultivation and meadow ; good wells and living water . Close to sohool and ohnrch . Price only ( 3 D per acre if sold soon . No . 232 . —80 aore form , 2 miles of this city : good improvements ...

J ( iscellmtemif Putting Up Hay . EDIIOBS WESTEBN RUBAL : —The gnooeasfal growth of timothy for hay and pasture baa been my earnest study for some years . How to change a wild , wet prairie from the native damp though snoonlent grasses into a good timoth y and bine grass sod at the least ooBt of labor and expense is the knotty problem that has puzzled many an aotive brain and tired many an aobing baok , if not aohing heart . I have quit sowing bine grass now and go it strong on timothy . I olaim that I oan take , any good rioh damp prairie soil like mine here and having borned it off in August or 1 st September , I oan seed it snooessfnlly to timothy by sowing abont the 16 th to 80 th of September to one-half bushel of timothy seed per aore and get a good aland nine times out of ten , and what is more for either meadow or pasture I had rather have what little wild grass remains than not . WiU the timothy grass hold its own ? To this I answer by pasturing olose the next season for tw...

4 lfire * ul $ « Written for ( he Western Rural . Well Go and Visit Jane . BY HOWABD 0 . TBIFP . Come , Mariar , pack your fixlns , well go and visit Jane , For she hasnt seen our faces for forty years or more . She lives near by the Kennebec , in the rooky State of Maine , And shell be pleased to see ns stop at her old kitchen door . Its so long since we ve been parted , so many , many years , I havent got the least o doubt bnt they will Bhed some tears . Mow , when I was a little lad , Jane was a sister kind , Who always did her very beet ; but when I got a wife Bhe pouted np her pretty lips , and said I must be blind And I had better get a coup and settle down in life . And then she hinted father s house was just a trifle small . And that if we were wanting peace , . it wouldnt hold ns all ; This raised my dander np a bit , I told her what was what ; Bnt father sided in with her , and said wed better go ; And then I took yon by the hand—those times were rather hot ;—- And we left...

Klfeflfettfr Hygiene and Boys . • I desire to say to Busybee that I would agree with what she said in the issue of April 11 th , oonoerning O . H . Allen s , column on hygiene , if the editors had a page set off for that speoial snbjeot ; but as it is I disagree and think it a valuable addition to the Fireside . Ton ask , Why ? I answer : because I think every man , woman and ohild , ough to interest themselves in every thing pertaining to health , no matter if they are healthy themselves , that is no sign or reason that they will always remain so . Besides there are others to think of , the next generation . Whethet it oomes in the form of hygiene , physiology , anatomy , physical training or medioal advice . What do all the ohats at the Fireside , the knowing how to make a rug , how to make home beantifnl and attraotive , how to get an organ and how to train up out boys and girls amount to , if the health of those boys and girls be left out or at least put second to something else...

fioimQpeo ^ U Written for The Western Rural . Mirror Land . * • ( Baby Speaks . ) BY ANTHONY I . ANDXBSON . Just up there is Mirror-land ; ¦ Dont yon see how all things slant ? See that baby stretoh his hand ! He would like to oome , but cant . See him smile and beokon me ! I cant oome to him at all , . Mirror-land s so steep , yon see , I should surely slip and fall . Now he laughs—his eyes are blue . And his lips are red , like mine ; Ill laugh baok to htm—would you?—Why , that boy haszaotly nine Small , white teeth , and so have I ! On , just look ! his frook is red . And he s got a sailor tie :. Wonder if Ai &amp;gt; name Is Ted . He s a silly boy , I think—He dont say a single word ; Stares at me without a wink , Just as if he hadnt heard . Here s my pretty mother now , ¦ I can tell you what shell do ; She will kiss my cheek and brow—- • Why , yonr mother s kissing pou ! ~ in Written for The Western Rural . « A ConTergatlon . Scene : An evening calU Jim Dallas seated in the...